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Backing Into Forward
The award-winning cartoonist, playwright, and author delivers a witty, illustrated rendition of his life, from his childhood as a wimpy kid in the Bronx to his legendary career in the arts.
A gifted storyteller who has delighted readers and theater audiences for decades, Jules Feiffer now turns his talents to the tale of his own life.
Plagued by learning problems, a controlling mother, and a debilitating sense of fear, Feiffer embarked on his first cartoon apprenticeship at the age of seventeen, emboldened only by a passion for success and an aptitude for failure. He vividly recalls those transformative years working under the legendary Will Eisner, and later, after he was drafted into the army, his evolution from “smart-ass kid into an enraged satirist.” Backing into Forward also traces Feiffer's love life, from a doomed hitchhiking trip to reclaim his high-school sweetheart to losing his virginity in Greenwich Village, and his road to marriage and fatherhood.
At the center of this journey is Feiffer's prolific creativity. In dazzling detail, he recounts the birth of his subversive graphic novella Munro , his entrée into New York's literary salons, collaborations with film greats Mike Nichols, Robert Altman, and Jack Nicholson, and other major turning points. Brimming with wry punch lines, slices of Americana, and pithy social commentary, Backing into Forward charts Feiffer's rise as an unlikely and incisive provocateur during the conformist fifties and the Vietnam and Civil Rights sixties and seventies.
A gifted storyteller who has delighted readers and theater audiences for decades, Jules Feiffer now turns his talents to the tale of his own life.
Plagued by learning problems, a controlling mother, and a debilitating sense of fear, Feiffer embarked on his first cartoon apprenticeship at the age of seventeen, emboldened only by a passion for success and an aptitude for failure. He vividly recalls those transformative years working under the legendary Will Eisner, and later, after he was drafted into the army, his evolution from “smart-ass kid into an enraged satirist.” Backing into Forward also traces Feiffer's love life, from a doomed hitchhiking trip to reclaim his high-school sweetheart to losing his virginity in Greenwich Village, and his road to marriage and fatherhood.
At the center of this journey is Feiffer's prolific creativity. In dazzling detail, he recounts the birth of his subversive graphic novella Munro , his entrée into New York's literary salons, collaborations with film greats Mike Nichols, Robert Altman, and Jack Nicholson, and other major turning points. Brimming with wry punch lines, slices of Americana, and pithy social commentary, Backing into Forward charts Feiffer's rise as an unlikely and incisive provocateur during the conformist fifties and the Vietnam and Civil Rights sixties and seventies.
464 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2008
21 people are currently reading
317 people want to read
About the author
Jules Feiffer
158 books192 followersJules Ralph Feiffer was an American cartoonist and author, who at one time was considered the most widely read satirist in the country. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1986 for editorial cartooning, and in 2004 he was inducted into the Comic Book Hall of Fame. He wrote the animated short Munro, which won an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 1961. The Library of Congress has recognized his "remarkable legacy", from 1946 to the present, as a cartoonist, playwright, screenwriter, adult and children's book author, illustrator, and art instructor.
When Feiffer was 17 (in the mid-1940s) he became assistant to cartoonist Will Eisner. There he helped Eisner write and illustrate his comic strips, including The Spirit. In 1956, he became a staff cartoonist at The Village Voice, where he produced the weekly comic strip titled Feiffer until 1997. His cartoons became nationally syndicated in 1959 and then appeared regularly in publications including the Los Angeles Times, the London Observer, The New Yorker, Playboy, Esquire, and The Nation. In 1997, he created the first op-ed page comic strip for the New York Times, which ran monthly until 2000.
He has written more than 35 books, plays and screenplays. His first of many collections of satirical cartoons, Sick, Sick, Sick, was published in 1958, and his first novel, Harry, the Rat with Women, in 1963. In 1965, he wrote The Great Comic Book Heroes, the first history of the comic-book superheroes of the late 1930s and early 1940s and a tribute to their creators. In 1979, Feiffer created his first graphic novel, Tantrum. By 1993, he began writing and illustrating books aimed at young readers, with several of them winning awards.
Feiffer began writing for the theater and film in 1961, with plays including Little Murders (1967), Feiffer's People (1969), and Knock Knock (1976). He wrote the screenplay for Carnal Knowledge (1971), directed by Mike Nichols, and Popeye (1980), directed by Robert Altman. He was recently given a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Dramatist's Guild.
When Feiffer was 17 (in the mid-1940s) he became assistant to cartoonist Will Eisner. There he helped Eisner write and illustrate his comic strips, including The Spirit. In 1956, he became a staff cartoonist at The Village Voice, where he produced the weekly comic strip titled Feiffer until 1997. His cartoons became nationally syndicated in 1959 and then appeared regularly in publications including the Los Angeles Times, the London Observer, The New Yorker, Playboy, Esquire, and The Nation. In 1997, he created the first op-ed page comic strip for the New York Times, which ran monthly until 2000.
He has written more than 35 books, plays and screenplays. His first of many collections of satirical cartoons, Sick, Sick, Sick, was published in 1958, and his first novel, Harry, the Rat with Women, in 1963. In 1965, he wrote The Great Comic Book Heroes, the first history of the comic-book superheroes of the late 1930s and early 1940s and a tribute to their creators. In 1979, Feiffer created his first graphic novel, Tantrum. By 1993, he began writing and illustrating books aimed at young readers, with several of them winning awards.
Feiffer began writing for the theater and film in 1961, with plays including Little Murders (1967), Feiffer's People (1969), and Knock Knock (1976). He wrote the screenplay for Carnal Knowledge (1971), directed by Mike Nichols, and Popeye (1980), directed by Robert Altman. He was recently given a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Dramatist's Guild.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews
August 2, 2016
I'm not entirely sure how this ended up on my to-read list. I think one of my goodreads friends recommended it after I read Menaker's book or the Mad history collection. It fits right in between those two anyway and that is the best story I can come up with. Feiffer writes more entertainingly than Menaker, but in the same self-effacing style and about the same NYC literary world (except Feiffer is more successful and has bigger/more famous name drops). And of course, Feiffer is a cartoonist (a compliment, according to him) above all else and while he minorly disparages Mad magazine in the book, his panels are reminiscent of some of Dave Berg and Don Martin's stuff (at least to this unsophisticated eye).
There is wisdom and humor and I felt as if I learned alot about post WWII NYC and the Cold War that I hadn't really seen before. The stereotypical presentation of America in the 1950s is so calm in comparison to the 1960s and 70s chaos that comes later and my personal knowledge about the 50s is nothing (I was born in 1977). It was interesting to hear from someone who lived through it (and wrote about it and made political commentary about it) how unsettled the 50s actually WERE. Reading Feiffer's memoir was kind of like having a cool old uncle to tell me the truth of how things really went down.
Overall, he is entertaining and I enjoyed the read. I did feel as if I learned a bit more about my Grandpa's generation (my Dad's Dad was also in Korea) and Feiffer is certainly refreshingly left and appears to be honest.
There is wisdom and humor and I felt as if I learned alot about post WWII NYC and the Cold War that I hadn't really seen before. The stereotypical presentation of America in the 1950s is so calm in comparison to the 1960s and 70s chaos that comes later and my personal knowledge about the 50s is nothing (I was born in 1977). It was interesting to hear from someone who lived through it (and wrote about it and made political commentary about it) how unsettled the 50s actually WERE. Reading Feiffer's memoir was kind of like having a cool old uncle to tell me the truth of how things really went down.
Overall, he is entertaining and I enjoyed the read. I did feel as if I learned a bit more about my Grandpa's generation (my Dad's Dad was also in Korea) and Feiffer is certainly refreshingly left and appears to be honest.
April 17, 2022
It's a memoir. A lot about his dysfunctional family: his mother was the cliche Jewish mother, and then some. Gaslighting, a hypochondriac, piling on guilt, shaming his father for not being successful. She had aspirations of greater things and a struggling business selling her sketches of New York fashions to department stores in the rest of the country. His father wasn’t much better, always putting down his children.
Jules had similar delusions: convinced that he was going to be the greatest cartoonist in the world.... except he didn't draw very well. But he managed to get a job as a writing assistant to Will Eisner, then started drawing his own strip, Clifford, that ran as filler in the Spirit comic.
The draft got him out of his parents’ house. He hated every minute of his time in the military but he came up with Munro, a satire about a toddler who’s mistakenly drafted into the army. He got work doing drawings then started working at the Village Voice, for free at first.
There’s lots of interesting stuff about his creative process and various projects with writers, plus his thoughts about how some of his plays worked or didn't.
Jules had similar delusions: convinced that he was going to be the greatest cartoonist in the world.... except he didn't draw very well. But he managed to get a job as a writing assistant to Will Eisner, then started drawing his own strip, Clifford, that ran as filler in the Spirit comic.
The draft got him out of his parents’ house. He hated every minute of his time in the military but he came up with Munro, a satire about a toddler who’s mistakenly drafted into the army. He got work doing drawings then started working at the Village Voice, for free at first.
There’s lots of interesting stuff about his creative process and various projects with writers, plus his thoughts about how some of his plays worked or didn't.
May 25, 2010
I can't remember why I requested this, but I'm glad I did. I didn't even know that Feiffer was the illustrator for Norton Juster's Phantom Tollbooth, but that makes a lot of sense. Despite knowing virtually nothing about his career, this was a really enjoyable read and it was extremely easy for my neurotic, contrarian self to relate to the good-natured rage that fuels his outlook on life.
My one complaint is that his story sometimes loops back on itself, and because it is focused on his career there are hints at events in his personal life that never really come to much.
I learned in this book that Feiifer wrote his first children's book as a result of being mad at another author. What's not to love about that?
My one complaint is that his story sometimes loops back on itself, and because it is focused on his career there are hints at events in his personal life that never really come to much.
I learned in this book that Feiifer wrote his first children's book as a result of being mad at another author. What's not to love about that?
May 22, 2018
Feiffer's sense of both humor and tragedy are at the forefront of his memoir, and as a big fan of his work, I absolutely enjoyed reading about his life and work. It was fascinating to read about all of the people he knew as well as the ones he worked with (both successfully and otherwise). There were times that the book was bogged down by the name-dropping and network building. However, the people who influenced him are so wide ranging and, at times, bizarre that it is fun to have a more comprehensive view of how his cartoons, plays, novels, and children's books came to be.
I can see how someone who is unfamiliar with Feiffer's work would find his memoir less interesting, but I think BACKING INTO FORWARD is not really for those readers. I would HIGHLY recommend this book to lovers of Feiffer's work, and I would recommend it to others interested in comics after reading some of his strips and cartoons (at least).
I can see how someone who is unfamiliar with Feiffer's work would find his memoir less interesting, but I think BACKING INTO FORWARD is not really for those readers. I would HIGHLY recommend this book to lovers of Feiffer's work, and I would recommend it to others interested in comics after reading some of his strips and cartoons (at least).
July 25, 2017
This one took me awhile. I love his drawings and he had some really good political insights and creative process insights but otherwise this book felt all over the place. It wasn't until the end that he claimed it was a career memoir but he really picked and chose personal information wily nily to share in a way that felt confusing and wasn't sure what to make of him skimming over him leaving his first wife but then a focus on his siblings but really only in a short chapter. Like I said--all over the place and the way he talks about women when he's the father of daughters really irked me. I know he's of another generation but so much focus on how attractive or unattractive they were. I just wanted a lot more from this memoir I guess.
August 3, 2010
What’s the difference between memoir and autobiography? I’ve been reading a few of these simultaneously: Moss Hart’s Act One, Neil Simon’s Rewrites, and this book, Jules Feiffer’s newly-published Backing Into Forward. It seems the definition depends on the author. I’ll get around to reviewing Hart and Simon when I finish them (I bought each for a quarter at a library book sale, which means that I’m bound to give precedence to anything that comes in off my hold list), but suffice to say that for a couple of New York born-and-raised, autodidactic, borscht belt comic playwrights who have also written for music theater, I’m enjoying the Simon far more than the Hart. I’d probably put the Feiffer somewhere between the two.
Jules Feiffer is a real literary polyglot, a Pulitzer prize-winning artist mentored by Will Eisner, whose work ran continuously in The Village Voice for more than forty years and in Playboy for over a decade (among spots in various other publications). He has enjoyed critical (and occasional commercial) success as a satirist, playwright, scriptwriter (including an Academy Award for an animated short adapted from one of his longer works), political cartoonist published in the cartoon-shunning New York Times, fine artist, and children’s book author. I’m sure I’m leaving something off his resume, but if you have never heard of Jules Feiffer, you owe it to yourself to Google him this very minute and take in whatever of his works you can find. A typical bon mot that encapsulates Feiffer’s aesthetic: “In life, there is nothing but irony.”
Feiffer’s idea of a memoir is fairly scattershot, a sort of undisciplined stream-of-consciousness masquerading as a straightforward chronological tale. Like Simon, he’s primarily interested in providing the details of his professional emergence and development, but he sprinkles this both liberally and randomly with character sketches of various family members, repeated unspecific rants against his mother (not counting the tragic anecdote about her sneakily disposing of his beloved dog when he was but a stripling), and the occasional short essay on politics so chock-a-block with unsupported assertions that they come across as unedifying screeds (something I lament as one who shares Feiffer’s political leanings, but alas see, e.g., the chapter excerpted from an address he made before the ACLU in the early 1980s on factionalism, called “Closet America,” at pp. 323-325 or his musings on the etymological drift of “liberal,” “moderate,” and “progressive” which he titled “The Warrior Liberal” at pp. 287-290).
Since Feiffer’s writing (in this instance) is more associative than historical, his book cries out for an editor to consolidate content and impose some thematic unity or narrative arc. The first third of the book grows tiresome through repetitions of subject matter, and the overall timeline is often hard to track (as when Feiffer throws out undated anecdotes from the life of his first long-form work not for comics, Little Murders from aborted novel to Broadway flop to London success to Off-Broadway competence to… well, he doesn’t ever get to its adaptation for film, instead considering Carnal Knowledge and the Robert Altman mess Popeye for this purpose). The book has chapter headings, but neither table of contents nor index, which makes later consultation all the trickier. On the bright side, the work is livened by samples of Feiffer’s comics and the occasional photograph, all interpolated where they bear meaningful thematic (if not chronologic) relationship to the neighboring text. Too, he willingly shares his encyclopedic knowledge and reverence for comics artists dating from the dawn of the newsprint era, candidly crediting his various influences all the way down to and through his works for children (see, e.g., at page 436).
If I’ve painted too bleak a picture of this book, I don’t mean to. Feiffer doesn’t rant all that often, and his voice is self-deprecatingly funny. I’ll close with a typical example. Of his coming of age in the 1940’s, steeped in the folk-socialist labor culture that produced Woody Guthrie and the Pete Seeger-Lee Hays Weavers, Feiffer explains at page 94,
Autobiography? Memoir? This book is more like a rambling Philip Roth without the kink.
Jules Feiffer is a real literary polyglot, a Pulitzer prize-winning artist mentored by Will Eisner, whose work ran continuously in The Village Voice for more than forty years and in Playboy for over a decade (among spots in various other publications). He has enjoyed critical (and occasional commercial) success as a satirist, playwright, scriptwriter (including an Academy Award for an animated short adapted from one of his longer works), political cartoonist published in the cartoon-shunning New York Times, fine artist, and children’s book author. I’m sure I’m leaving something off his resume, but if you have never heard of Jules Feiffer, you owe it to yourself to Google him this very minute and take in whatever of his works you can find. A typical bon mot that encapsulates Feiffer’s aesthetic: “In life, there is nothing but irony.”
Feiffer’s idea of a memoir is fairly scattershot, a sort of undisciplined stream-of-consciousness masquerading as a straightforward chronological tale. Like Simon, he’s primarily interested in providing the details of his professional emergence and development, but he sprinkles this both liberally and randomly with character sketches of various family members, repeated unspecific rants against his mother (not counting the tragic anecdote about her sneakily disposing of his beloved dog when he was but a stripling), and the occasional short essay on politics so chock-a-block with unsupported assertions that they come across as unedifying screeds (something I lament as one who shares Feiffer’s political leanings, but alas see, e.g., the chapter excerpted from an address he made before the ACLU in the early 1980s on factionalism, called “Closet America,” at pp. 323-325 or his musings on the etymological drift of “liberal,” “moderate,” and “progressive” which he titled “The Warrior Liberal” at pp. 287-290).
Since Feiffer’s writing (in this instance) is more associative than historical, his book cries out for an editor to consolidate content and impose some thematic unity or narrative arc. The first third of the book grows tiresome through repetitions of subject matter, and the overall timeline is often hard to track (as when Feiffer throws out undated anecdotes from the life of his first long-form work not for comics, Little Murders from aborted novel to Broadway flop to London success to Off-Broadway competence to… well, he doesn’t ever get to its adaptation for film, instead considering Carnal Knowledge and the Robert Altman mess Popeye for this purpose). The book has chapter headings, but neither table of contents nor index, which makes later consultation all the trickier. On the bright side, the work is livened by samples of Feiffer’s comics and the occasional photograph, all interpolated where they bear meaningful thematic (if not chronologic) relationship to the neighboring text. Too, he willingly shares his encyclopedic knowledge and reverence for comics artists dating from the dawn of the newsprint era, candidly crediting his various influences all the way down to and through his works for children (see, e.g., at page 436).
If I’ve painted too bleak a picture of this book, I don’t mean to. Feiffer doesn’t rant all that often, and his voice is self-deprecatingly funny. I’ll close with a typical example. Of his coming of age in the 1940’s, steeped in the folk-socialist labor culture that produced Woody Guthrie and the Pete Seeger-Lee Hays Weavers, Feiffer explains at page 94,
We were all members of the AYD, the American Youth for Democracy, a left-wing organization I joined in high school under the sponsorship of my sister the Communist. Mimi assured me that the AYD was “Progressive,” not Communist, extremely pink but not Red. In the thirties and forties these were known as Popular Front organizations, which, as far as Mimi was concerned, meant that I would now be more in line with “enlightened” political positions…. Her arguments, as always, sounded convincing. Certainly they intimidated me into a half-hearted membership in the AYD, in order to prove to her that I wasn’t what she openly and I, secretly, knew myself to be. But as I fell into line, I found a more personally persuasive reason to join. It was to meet girls.
Autobiography? Memoir? This book is more like a rambling Philip Roth without the kink.
March 24, 2018
An excellent and witty memoir of a brilliant artist. There are a lot of gaps here, things for one reason or another he decided not to include. Which did strike me as strange while I was reading it. He addresses some of this in the afterwords. But there's so much great stuff in here that it doesn't matter that he never talks about his Academy Award winning short or the time he worked for Walt Disney.
Highly recommended, if you're into the subject matter.
Highly recommended, if you're into the subject matter.
April 5, 2018
3.5 stars. Feiffer's memoir is very good. Not as great as his cartooning, but he does a good job explaining his overbearing mother and his acquiescing personality. The focus is mostly on his professional life, so lots of name-dropping throughout, and several great anecdotes about his time in the army or getting started in theatre. Definitely a solid read for a Feiffer fan, and if you've read his comics, you should be a fan.
August 13, 2019
how did jules feiffer get to be jules feiffer? well, he tells you. a probabilist might describe this as a guided random walk through life. feiffer is unique, bright, funny, insightful. one might want to read By the Side of the Road if they haven't come across feiffer before.
January 6, 2020
Sex and politics
Make good comics.
Make good comics.
December 3, 2021
A very good book about being a cartoonist, despite the fact that Feiffer calls himself a radical in early parts of the book and then later effuses over Obama like a common lib.
May 12, 2012
Jules Feiffer’s memoir Backing Forward is the story of a young Jewish boy in New York who is able to harness his storytelling and illustrating talent in order to produce some of the best comics from the1940s to the present. Before he was ever published, or even entered high school, he used his drawing skills to help survive and find a place for himself. Despite the fact that he was not a jock, he was still able to gain the acceptance of the popular crowd through his illustrations. The popular boys and girls would come to Jules and ask for drawings of teachers, sports stars, and celebrities. Even at this age, people noticed his extraordinary talent. Perhaps, he got his talent from his mother who made fashion sketches the sale of which helped keep the family afloat during hard economic times. Feiffer’s sister also played a part in his intellectual development. Four years his senior, Mimi befriended many liberal students of the time who brought radical ideas into the Feiffer household. Even more important, Mimi’s progressive friends were interested in Feiffer’s comics and saw his potential though he was barely 13 years old.
At the age of 16, Feiffer secured an internship working for the comic/graphic novel legend Will Eisner. Eisner, and others in his studio, taught Feiffer as much about growing a tough skin as about writing comics. Feiffer eventually left Eisner’s studio in order to follow his girlfriend across the country to Berkley, California in a journey reminiscent of On the Road. In 1951, Feiffer was drafted into the army where he faked a mental breakdown and thought that he was going insane. Though he had some of the worst experiences of his life while in the service, it was during this time that he came up with the idea for his comic Munro. The years from his adolescences to his discharge from the army was the formative time in his life that truly made him an artist. During this time, he found his voice and personality which his work clearly exudes. After his time in the military, Feiffer moved to Greenwich Village were all of the action was during that time. He rubbed noses with journalists, comedians, singers, intellectuals, and artists. The rest of his story follows that of the American Dream in which he became famous, married, settled down and started a family.
I enjoyed parts of Feiffer’s memoir a great deal but cannot say that I was overall impressed. At 440 pages, I felt that his memoir was far too long. Though Feiffer led an incredibly interesting life and has a great story to tell, it could be cut down by at least 100 pages. His time hitch-hiking across the country is by far my favorite part of the book because it has the most color and personality. The chapters in which he describes working for Eisner are also interesting. Perhaps it is because I am a huge Eisner fan, but I found Feiffer’s views and experiences with Eisner to be quite telling about both men. Though Feiffer’s young adult life as a Jew in New York was interesting, it was a tale that I have heard hundreds of times before in various other novels and memoirs. There is no denying that Feiffer’s humor makes the memoir readable and livens up some of the dull chapters. However, his memoir still lagged at points that not even his humor could save. What sets this work apart from other memoirs, is that Feiffer has included some of his comics and interspersed them throughout the book. Therefore, the reader can see how his technique has changed and matured over time. This is extremely helpful in understanding his growth as an artist.
Overall, I would only recommend this memoir to die-hard graphic novel and/or Feiffer fans. Today, readers expect a great deal from someone’s memoir. The market has been bombarded with memoirs of all kinds that chronicle everything from a person’s spiritual enlightenment, to a year of reading the encyclopedia, to graphic/comic book memoirs. While Feiffer’s memoir might have won rave reviews a couple of years ago, there is nothing astonishing about it that would set it apart from the already excessive amount of literature published in this genre.
www.iamliteraryaddicted.blogspot.com
At the age of 16, Feiffer secured an internship working for the comic/graphic novel legend Will Eisner. Eisner, and others in his studio, taught Feiffer as much about growing a tough skin as about writing comics. Feiffer eventually left Eisner’s studio in order to follow his girlfriend across the country to Berkley, California in a journey reminiscent of On the Road. In 1951, Feiffer was drafted into the army where he faked a mental breakdown and thought that he was going insane. Though he had some of the worst experiences of his life while in the service, it was during this time that he came up with the idea for his comic Munro. The years from his adolescences to his discharge from the army was the formative time in his life that truly made him an artist. During this time, he found his voice and personality which his work clearly exudes. After his time in the military, Feiffer moved to Greenwich Village were all of the action was during that time. He rubbed noses with journalists, comedians, singers, intellectuals, and artists. The rest of his story follows that of the American Dream in which he became famous, married, settled down and started a family.
I enjoyed parts of Feiffer’s memoir a great deal but cannot say that I was overall impressed. At 440 pages, I felt that his memoir was far too long. Though Feiffer led an incredibly interesting life and has a great story to tell, it could be cut down by at least 100 pages. His time hitch-hiking across the country is by far my favorite part of the book because it has the most color and personality. The chapters in which he describes working for Eisner are also interesting. Perhaps it is because I am a huge Eisner fan, but I found Feiffer’s views and experiences with Eisner to be quite telling about both men. Though Feiffer’s young adult life as a Jew in New York was interesting, it was a tale that I have heard hundreds of times before in various other novels and memoirs. There is no denying that Feiffer’s humor makes the memoir readable and livens up some of the dull chapters. However, his memoir still lagged at points that not even his humor could save. What sets this work apart from other memoirs, is that Feiffer has included some of his comics and interspersed them throughout the book. Therefore, the reader can see how his technique has changed and matured over time. This is extremely helpful in understanding his growth as an artist.
Overall, I would only recommend this memoir to die-hard graphic novel and/or Feiffer fans. Today, readers expect a great deal from someone’s memoir. The market has been bombarded with memoirs of all kinds that chronicle everything from a person’s spiritual enlightenment, to a year of reading the encyclopedia, to graphic/comic book memoirs. While Feiffer’s memoir might have won rave reviews a couple of years ago, there is nothing astonishing about it that would set it apart from the already excessive amount of literature published in this genre.
www.iamliteraryaddicted.blogspot.com
April 10, 2010
From a literary standpoint memoirs tend fall in a certain catergories, although I'm not going to get into that now or I could be here all day. I will say, however, that some memoirs focus very clearly on one life-changing event or situation (example: Jim Beaver's Life's That Way), others focus on a certain time period of someone's life (example: Tobias Wolff's This Boy's Life), still others attempt to depict a life from early childhood all the way up until the time the writer is penning the memoir (example: J. R. Moehringer's The Tender Bar). Jules Feiffer's memoir belongs in the latter category. At one time, I found these types of memories the most because they showed the immense range of growth throughout many years, with a clear, retrospective voice. I enjoyed that about Feiffer's memoir as well, but there were times when I felt that he was juggling too much info in his book and explicating way too much. The book is very long and he has lived a long and interesting life, for sure, but in my opinion, there wasn't enough driving the narrative forward.
Prior to reading, I didn't know Jules Feiffer by name, but I love the movie Carnal Knowledge (I wished he'd spent more time talking about it and said a few words about Art Garfunkel) and read The Phantom Tollbooth as a kid. I've also seen quite a few movies his daughter has apparently been in. I found there was too much name-dropping in the book at times, although that is typical of celebrity memoirs and they can't help it I suppose, when these are the people they know. I also didn't care too much for the long political tangents. I understood why they were there, because he did draw political cartoons and have a strong political opinion, but I felt myself skimming over those sections.
What I liked outweighed the negatives, however, I wish he'd spent more time on them. I'm not Jewish and I didn't grow up in the Bronx, but I found I experienced a similar childhood. Our relationships with our mothers growing up seemed to be very similar as well as our struggles with learning disabilities and stomachaches in school and our love for drawing and making up stories. I wanted a bit more of that. Of course the best thing about the book however were the drawings and comics and photos sprinkled throughout (I loved that last one - he has great style) that related to what he had just written. It was quite refreshing to see and appropriate to his career of course, instead of the usual glossy plates that publishers place in the center of the book.
Bottom line, while I think parts could've been shortened or split into separate memoirs, I think this is a must-read for anyone who aspires to be a famous artist or writer, not to mention anyone who struggled in school and was always and is still waiting for their parents' approval.
Grade: B+
Thank you, goodreads and Doubleday for sending me this lovely book!
Prior to reading, I didn't know Jules Feiffer by name, but I love the movie Carnal Knowledge (I wished he'd spent more time talking about it and said a few words about Art Garfunkel) and read The Phantom Tollbooth as a kid. I've also seen quite a few movies his daughter has apparently been in. I found there was too much name-dropping in the book at times, although that is typical of celebrity memoirs and they can't help it I suppose, when these are the people they know. I also didn't care too much for the long political tangents. I understood why they were there, because he did draw political cartoons and have a strong political opinion, but I felt myself skimming over those sections.
What I liked outweighed the negatives, however, I wish he'd spent more time on them. I'm not Jewish and I didn't grow up in the Bronx, but I found I experienced a similar childhood. Our relationships with our mothers growing up seemed to be very similar as well as our struggles with learning disabilities and stomachaches in school and our love for drawing and making up stories. I wanted a bit more of that. Of course the best thing about the book however were the drawings and comics and photos sprinkled throughout (I loved that last one - he has great style) that related to what he had just written. It was quite refreshing to see and appropriate to his career of course, instead of the usual glossy plates that publishers place in the center of the book.
Bottom line, while I think parts could've been shortened or split into separate memoirs, I think this is a must-read for anyone who aspires to be a famous artist or writer, not to mention anyone who struggled in school and was always and is still waiting for their parents' approval.
Grade: B+
Thank you, goodreads and Doubleday for sending me this lovely book!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 2, 2010
Cartoonist, playwright, film writer, children’s book author, and activist, Feiffer has certainly had an interesting life, and he was friends or worked with a ton of fascinating folks, including William Stryon, Alfred Kazin, Alan Arkin, Mike Nichols, Gene McCarthy, Maurice Sendak, Kenneth Tynan, Will Eisner, Robert Lowell, Philip Roth, Woody Allen, Roger Rosenblatt, Joseph Heller, Lillian Hellman, Art Buchwald, Edward Sorel, and more. His older cousin grew up to be attorney Roy Cohn. Feiffer was an early contributor, and a defining one, to the Village Voice, an alternative news and cultural weekly in New York. To top it off, Feiffer is a graceful, at times self-effacing writer. So, this should be wonderful, right? Right. But it’s not, despite the fact that it’s an easy read.
The early parts are the more interesting, perhaps because Feiffer still has grudges to settle with mom, in particular, and his Communist sister, Mimi (though it’s not her politics that are his problem with her) so there is at least a narrative pulse. By the time he finds his way, professionally and socially, things get more superficial and the story less interesting. Names get dropped but relationships go undeveloped. Often you learn of friendships after the fact, as you do with Philip Roth and Woody Allen. In the latter’s case, you learn they had been friends so Feiffer can share an undocumented judgment (Allen fakes his shyness) and an unconvincing anecdote about Allen inconveniencing him and an elevator full of celebrities too big to remember in the Dakota. At such low moments, Feiffer is both chippy and uninteresting. Other than the irony of he and his politically opposite cousin’s familial relationship nothing comes of Roy Cohn’s appearances in the memoir. His views of Cohn could have been from any liberal-left individual of the time and you get the sense the only contact he had with cousin Roy was via hand-me-down clothes.
Backing into Forward is not an autobiography and it’s barely a memoir. It reads like an evening with Jules Feiffer responding spontaneously to random questions about his life. The reader gets off the top of the head responses without depth or self-reflection. If you’re a fan of Feiffer or New York in the time between the 1930s and 1960s it may be worth your while—and largely for the illustrations from influential cartoonists and his own work samples—but barely.
The early parts are the more interesting, perhaps because Feiffer still has grudges to settle with mom, in particular, and his Communist sister, Mimi (though it’s not her politics that are his problem with her) so there is at least a narrative pulse. By the time he finds his way, professionally and socially, things get more superficial and the story less interesting. Names get dropped but relationships go undeveloped. Often you learn of friendships after the fact, as you do with Philip Roth and Woody Allen. In the latter’s case, you learn they had been friends so Feiffer can share an undocumented judgment (Allen fakes his shyness) and an unconvincing anecdote about Allen inconveniencing him and an elevator full of celebrities too big to remember in the Dakota. At such low moments, Feiffer is both chippy and uninteresting. Other than the irony of he and his politically opposite cousin’s familial relationship nothing comes of Roy Cohn’s appearances in the memoir. His views of Cohn could have been from any liberal-left individual of the time and you get the sense the only contact he had with cousin Roy was via hand-me-down clothes.
Backing into Forward is not an autobiography and it’s barely a memoir. It reads like an evening with Jules Feiffer responding spontaneously to random questions about his life. The reader gets off the top of the head responses without depth or self-reflection. If you’re a fan of Feiffer or New York in the time between the 1930s and 1960s it may be worth your while—and largely for the illustrations from influential cartoonists and his own work samples—but barely.
September 3, 2010
BACKING INTO FORWARD by Jules Feiffer
I have this habit of reading memoirs and biographies of people whose work I am not fully acquainted with. I’ve wondered if this is a bad habit. When it works, I approach the artist’s work with a deeper understanding. This was a book when it didn’t pay off.
I knew that Jules Feiffer was a longtime cartoonist for The Village Voice, but that was about it. Oh, there is a Feiffer quote outside the Design Within Reach store I walk by everyday on the way to work. Maybe that’s why I was scratching my head when Feiffer talks about fame…and he talks about it a lot. He considers himself very famous, and is constantly name dropping. Now I know he wrote some screenplays, plays, novels, and countless children’s books in addition to his weekly cartoons. But if you ask 10 people on the street, would they know him?
He’s at his best when he’s addressing the title. I love Feiffer’s sideways approach to his art. He says, “Much of what I do is what I swore I would not do. That is the best part of my life.” That’s a great sentiment. And he pays it off, but you have to slog through a lot of stories with loose ends.
The book is overly long. It could have been cut by at least 100 pages, if not more. Luckily, Feiffer doesn’t go exactly in chronological order, and the chapters are mercifully short. It’s like a Ramones album. If you don’t like one song, don’t worry, it will be over in two minutes. Still, I thought many times I’d abandon this book. He’s like a grandfather who has seen a lot, but you just want to shut up.
I have this habit of reading memoirs and biographies of people whose work I am not fully acquainted with. I’ve wondered if this is a bad habit. When it works, I approach the artist’s work with a deeper understanding. This was a book when it didn’t pay off.
I knew that Jules Feiffer was a longtime cartoonist for The Village Voice, but that was about it. Oh, there is a Feiffer quote outside the Design Within Reach store I walk by everyday on the way to work. Maybe that’s why I was scratching my head when Feiffer talks about fame…and he talks about it a lot. He considers himself very famous, and is constantly name dropping. Now I know he wrote some screenplays, plays, novels, and countless children’s books in addition to his weekly cartoons. But if you ask 10 people on the street, would they know him?
He’s at his best when he’s addressing the title. I love Feiffer’s sideways approach to his art. He says, “Much of what I do is what I swore I would not do. That is the best part of my life.” That’s a great sentiment. And he pays it off, but you have to slog through a lot of stories with loose ends.
The book is overly long. It could have been cut by at least 100 pages, if not more. Luckily, Feiffer doesn’t go exactly in chronological order, and the chapters are mercifully short. It’s like a Ramones album. If you don’t like one song, don’t worry, it will be over in two minutes. Still, I thought many times I’d abandon this book. He’s like a grandfather who has seen a lot, but you just want to shut up.
June 17, 2010
What critics seemed to appreciate most about Backing into Forward was its disregard for convention. Feiffer relates pathetic tales from his childhood without reservations or unnecessary dramatization; he frankly admits his lack of feeling for his parents and moves along. He states his youthful desire for fame but then discusses notable characters from the 1960s and 1970s as if they were just people from the neighborhood (which, in many cases, they were). This honest, but ambling, style annoyed the critics who wanted a more substantial account of Feiffer's life, but by and large, all were charmed by his lack of pretension or regard for what anyone else thinks his memoir (or life) should be. This is an excerpt from a review published in Bookmarks magazine.
December 29, 2010
So, there are more penis/sex references than I expected, but this was otherwise pretty much exactly what I wanted from Jules Feiffer: at times self-deprecating, funny, neurotic, or nostalgic (often several at once), lots of reference drawings/comics, and quite an impressive amount of name dropping. Despite (or rather due to) a complicated relationship with his mother, she's the only female in his life that gets much mention. Apparently, his current wife didn't want to be included and I suspect he was trying to protect the privacy of his children (all 3 daughters), but it's a bit surprising that (other than awkward sexual encounters) women don't seem to have played much of a role in his experiences. That said, I really did enjoy and laugh out loud at many moments in this book and I would certainly recommend it.
September 28, 2015
Jules Feiffer's cartoons in the Village Voice in the Fifties and early Sixties were a major formative influence if you grew up in New York then, aspired to be hip, and had both leftist and neurotic leanings. (Woodie Allen took over the territory in the Seventies). Since I qualified on all counts, reading those weekly strips were akin to jumping on the next Dylan album. So I decided to read this memoir/autobiography as a hommage. The first part of the book- growing up poor and Jewish and nebbishy in the Bronx - did not disappoint. Funny and painful - of course his mother (monster and goddess)O was the lead character. And his early years making good in the village was very evocative. But too much of the book is about how famous he became and alot of name dropping, and it lost my interest.
Although I feel like an ingrate, two stars.
Although I feel like an ingrate, two stars.
March 24, 2010
Jules Feiffer has lived more than you. That's why his memoir is better than yours. He lived "Kavalier and Clay" when he worked for comic legend Will Eisner. He lived "Calvin and Hobbes" and "Peanuts" in his early strip "Clifford." He wrote the unpublishable comic equivalent of Catch 22, "Munro," where a 4 year old gets drafted into the army. He also remained sharp as the Village Voice changed around him. He rubbed elbows and shared drinks with some of my favorites: Philip Roth, Bernard Malamud, Alan Arkin, Truman Capote, George Plimpton, Mike Nichols, and Lenny Bruce. Jules Feiffer has lived more than you and that's why his skeptical, episodic memoir is better than yours.
October 4, 2014
I got to hear Jules Feiffer speak at the Small Press Expo last month, and he was such a fascinating and entertaining guy that I was inspired to read his memoir. Given the variety of Feiffer's output-- comic strips, graphic novels, plays, novels, film scripts, picture books, non-fiction works, etc.-- it's not too surprising his book is a scattershot affair, going into great detail on some aspects of his life and work while barely mentioning others. While this can be frustrating at times, it would've taken more than one volume for Feiffer to cover each facet of such an illustrious career in satisfying detail.
March 26, 2010
Who knew that Roy Cohn was Jules Feiffer's cousin or the family member that he was supposed to emulate? We all knew something about Jules' mother, but the reason she gets rid of the puppy who loves him, really portrays his victimization at her hands (or voice shall we say). This is a book full of anecdotes, most of them involving other famous people as well and it is a fascinating and interesting read, and the illustrations are terrific. It deserves all the good things the NY Times has said about it (twice, in two reviews).
November 1, 2011
The book is labeled as a memoir, but its more of a rambling, discursive autobiography. Feiffer was a cartoonist for more than 40 years in the Village Voice, illustrated The Phantom Tollbooth, and wrote the screenplays for both Carnal Knowledge and Popeye - quite a combination. He's got some interesting stories to tell, but the book was less compelling than I had hoped. He is uncomfortably candid at times, and the book tends to jump around a fair amount. I enjoyed it because I'm interested in his life and career, but wouldn't recommend the book unless you are a true fan of his.
November 7, 2012
This is the autobiography of Jules Feiffer, wonderful author and illustrator of many fine children's books. I liked this book, although I really wanted to love it. The story of how Feiffer got into his profession is certainly interesting, but I had trouble keeping up with all the name-dropping. I know he was mentioning writers I should know, but oftentimes I had no idea. That got a little wearing at times. I skimmed through the latter half of the book, mainly because the due date was drawing near.
I enjoyed this book, just as not as much as I would have liked, if that makes sense.
I enjoyed this book, just as not as much as I would have liked, if that makes sense.
September 30, 2014
I was a casual fan of Jules Feiffer, only because I love The Phantom Tollbooth and while reading this book was interesting in the sense that it gave me a broader understanding of his work, I did not find his life to be all that interesting. I was especially curious about his mother. He absolutely despises her and yet what I read hardly made her sound like Mommie Dearest. Did I miss a chapter?
Best for big fans, and people interested in a certain NYC artistic and political scene spanning much of the '60s.
Best for big fans, and people interested in a certain NYC artistic and political scene spanning much of the '60s.
May 1, 2013
This book by Feiffer is many things. It is especially a story about Feiffer and his handicaps which were overcome to become the successful person he became. It is an interesting study when looked at in this respect. It is full of the names of people that you have heard of and many of those that you haven't. If you like light biography this book will certainly appeal to you. It has several cartoons done by Feiffer included.
J. Robert Ewbank author "John Wesley, Natural Man, and the Isms" and "Wesley's Wars"
J. Robert Ewbank author "John Wesley, Natural Man, and the Isms" and "Wesley's Wars"
October 31, 2012
It just moved so slowly I couldn't deal, even though I really wanted to hear what he had to say. He works better in comics and plays. 100 pages in and I wanted to shake him: "We get it! Your mother guilt-tripped you permanently! Will Eisner is awesome! You sucked at life except cartooning! Your sister was a communist! Now TELL US SOMETHING NEW!" But he rrererererereiterated.
April 20, 2010
The more I read about Jules Feiffer, the less respect I had for him. I just didn't find his life that interesting or honorable. I might have liked it more if I knew the history of comics and if I didn't mind his vulgarity, but it wasn't for me.
June 30, 2012
Not as funny as his cartoons. I tried to find out about his marriages but they were obviously not of great importance in his life. I looked at the cartoons and skimmed alot. The loudest message is how much he hated his mother.
May 16, 2013
A big disappointment due to the pretty standard, play-by-play description. It’s self-effacing, but not interestingly so. What I missed most of all, more than the humor, was the wisdom. Next was the creativity. The cartoons throughout the book are great.
April 15, 2010
A really great book that is both a personal memoir and a history of how comics have developed in America. The author, Jules Feiffer, is extremely likeable and smart.
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